To think my vote doesn't count & not feel guilty if I didn't vote

[FuzzyPillow]

I keep on being told repeatedly and forcefully, mostly by twats on social media that "every vote counts" and that "women died for your right to vote", however.....

1. I live in one of the safest Conservative seats in the country. Conservatives usually win by a margin of 15-20,000 votes, which is about 80% of all votes roughly. We have not been non-Conservative in living memory (almost).

1. I don't subscribe to the idea of inter-generational responsibility / guilt. Yes, the suffragettes fought to get votes for women (and I'm a woman). But if I decided to fight for [pick random cause] it would not follow that all future generations affected would have an obligation to take advantage of the rights I had won in order to honour my death. (Though if I do die fighting for the right to turn my porch light on at night even though it annoys the neighbours I'd be very pleased if all future generations did the same to annoy my neighbours )

So WIBU to think my vote doesn't count & not feel guilty if I didn't vote for genuine reasons (not voter apathy).

Part of the reason I will always vote is the idea that if you're part of society then you should participate in its processes, even if you don't like the outcomes.

YABU.

Democracy only works if we all participate in it.

There's no need for you to feel 'guilty' nor smug.
So you don't really get what a privilege it is to have a vote and you now of course won't moan, so it's all good.

I am sure I heard that the reason why we have been blasted with Farage & Co. on the BBC is because they (the BBC) have some calculation which looks at how people vote across the country and they then match this when looking at who to invite onto shows like Question Time - so even though the Greens have a seat in Parliament because they get less of a percentage of the vote from the overall population they get less of a presence on the BBC. So in this way your vote certainly does count.

Your vote may not have any chance of influencing the overall result due to FPTP. However, it will count in terms of the percentage of people who voted for each party.
Donald Trump won the election but lost the popular vote and that will always be on record, much to his annoyance.

I go and vote whatever constituency I'm currently living in (have moved around a bit!) regardless of whether it's a safe seat or not. I think it's important to show what overall percentage of the population voted for each party, mostly because I want electoral reform to proportional representation and if nobody bothers to vote for the losing / minor parties then it weakens the argument that the FPTP system is not necessarily representative of the will of the people.

I think it also helps to shape the policies of parties you don't agree with if their lead diminishes - might make them slightly less extreme than they'd otherwise be - although this might just be wishful thinking on my part!

I always vote, because I'd feel bad if I heard there were only a few votes in it, and I hadn't voted. Like you though, I'm I one of the safest Tory seats and didn't vote Tory. I'm glad I voted, but don't think it will have made a difference.

Grasspigeons explained exactly how I feel. Even if you live in a safe seat area, your vote acts as a protect voice that you're not happy with the Tories and are not approving their policies.

Good point above from Fruu though. That makes me feel better about my vote .

Your vote counts for nothing at all if you don't use it.

Oh, and safe Tory seats were lost in 97, Currie, Portillo, Rifkind.Safe Labour have been lost too, Ed Balls and others.

I googled the first 2 on your list. Prior to losing those seats were usually won by a margin of 5-10,000 votes. Our seat is usually won by 10-25,000 votes!! So much safer than those!

So while I accept it's possible for safe seats to be lost, I think in this case it's exceptionally unlikely. In fact, I might see if I can find bookmakers odds somewhere for it!

I live in a really safe seat for the party I don't vote for. But even if my chosen party continue to only get 4% of the vote or whatever I will still vote for them, because living in a democracy and having a vote is a privilege that I am proud to have.

if nobody bothers to vote for the losing / minor parties then it weakens the argument that the FPTP system is not necessarily representative of the will of the people.

Another good point.

What if everyone thought the same and no one voted. I think voting should be compulsory and the ballot paper should have a 'none of the above' box.

Donald Trump won the election but lost the popular vote and that will always be on record, much to his annoyance.

Yes

Safe Tory seat here but I still voted Labour. The Tory candidate lost votes last time and will probably lose more this time.

Having said that, he is a good MP. I am just fed up of this Tory government.

Fruu, I voted against the last proposal for electoral reform because it was a complete pig's ear. I think they did it on purpose. If a decent, straightforward proposal for proper PR were available I'd be all in favour.

DS and I have voted. We don't expect to make much of a difference but we didn't want the buggers to have it all their own way.

I live in a safe Tory seat too. Been Tory since 1910 or something. The last elections they've had over 50% of the votes whereas second place always gets less than 20%. There was 92% chance of Tory winning according to some website I looked on.

I voted on the way to work. Took me 5 minutes to go in, put a cross in a box (not Tory BTW) and get back in my car then another 10 to wait for the dickhead who blocked me in to move

I was wondering too OP so Im glad you asked. I voted because I thought its a 5 min job and as an adult its part of life (like going to work or something)

I think voting should be compulsory and the ballot paper should have a 'none of the above' box.

I share the sentiment that more people voting would be great however I think forced voting would be a nightmare to implement and unethical in many cases. Can you imagine having to get a special form to say that a relative unconscious in Hospital / not of sound mind / unable to get to the post box was allowed to not vote?

So as people have made good points did you go and vote? 25 minutes left if not...

Your vote would have provided funds for your chosen party
Your vote would have shown that there is a ground swell of support for those ideas, even if they didn't result in a vote (hence UKIP being so influential with their one seat).

Does anyone remember Michael Portillo in 1997 (I think) helping another wannabe MP and then finding he was voted out himself? His face when he heard the results was a picture. (Though I think he looks much, much happier now than he did when he was in politics.)

It's up to you what you do, but the point of voting isn't you personally getting to decide the result. It's vanishingly rare as you'll know for a seat to be won by one vote. I live in a swing seat, but it's not as if my single vote actually makes any more difference than yours. You turn out and your one vote is counted locally and nationally. There's no point agonising about whether your vote matters. In only does combined with everyone else's.

I'd prefer proportional representation, but personally think it's good to be counted as well as our system allows.

The seat is only going to get more safe the more people who think the way you do.

Still 20 minutes left.

YABU in my opinion. I live in an area that's been Tory for longer than I've been alive. Our MP does bugger all as far as I can see, and I really rate the Labour candidate. I voted today despite being disabled, and my teenage dd voted too. I'm really proud of her.

If we all said "can't be bothered, my one vote won't make any difference" then what's the point of living in a Democracy?

I think voting should be compulsory, even if you spoil your ballot.

Anyway, you still have 20 mins to get in the queue - not too late.

So as people have made good points did you go and vote? 25 minutes left if not...

I did vote in the end. My reasons for not wanting to vote originally were not just feeling as though it didn't count, but also that temporary disability due to Cancer made it impossible to walk to the polling station. I got a lift in the end.

I'm a bit glad that I did vote due to some of the points above, but I still don't feel as though it would have had a massive impact.

FYI I have voted in every previous election but have usually lived in marginal seats.